best external viewfinder (25 or 35, don't have a 28) for 28mm LTM lens

[romualdo]

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I recently acquired a 28mm LTM lens but don't have a 28mm external viewfinder (generally expensive & the CV 28 is discontinued AFAIK, the Zeiss 25/28 looks great but also costs an arm & a leg)

I'm trying to rationalise & decide between my CV 21/25 Brightline viewfinder & SBLOO 35mm Brightline viewfinder.

25mm is not that far from 28 but also taking the complete view from the SBLOO (including outside the brightlines) could be close to 28mm???

I suppose taking test shots would be helpful but any advice would be appreciated

[UliWer]

You don't see much outside the brightlines of the SBLOO, so you'll miss quite a lot of the 28mm field of view. 

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[nitroplait]

The "best" 28 finders are those you don't want to pay for; Zeiss, Leica, Voigtlander...

There is a Taiwanese company that has recently started selling inexpensive 28 and 35 mm finders. All plastic but only $30:

https://www.kekscameras.com/store/p7/KEKSviewfinder.html#/

Haven't tried and have no affiliation. If you buy, it would be cool to hear your impressions.

Edited March 15, 2021 by nitroplait

[Pyrogallol]

I have Leitz and Canon 28mm finders, as well as the original Leitz folding one for the 28mm Hektor, they were all relatively cheap

i had a cheap Techno one which was actually quite good, and a Voigtlander one.

some turret finders have 28mm settings.

There have been other discussions on the same subject and I made a similar posting on that 

 

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[Guest]

Did you have a look at the Ricoh 28mm vf?

[Anbaric]

2 hours ago, nitroplait said:

The "best" 28 finders are those you don't want to pay for; Zeiss, Leica, Voigtlander...

There is a Taiwanese company that has recently started selling inexpensive 28 and 35 mm finders. All plastic but only $30:

https://www.kekscameras.com/store/p7/KEKSviewfinder.html#/

Haven't tried and have no affiliation. If you buy, it would be cool to hear your impressions.

There seem to be some even cheaper plastic 28mm viewfinders from China on ebay, e.g.:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28mm-External-Optical-Viewfinder-For-Ricoh-GV-1-GR-GRD2-3-GRD4-GRD-II-III-IV/313119443745

Just search for '28mm viewfinder' and sort by price.

3/4 decent reviews, though a glasses wearer wasn't impressed.

[nitroplait]

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52 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

There seem to be some even cheaper plastic 28mm viewfinders from China on ebay, e.g.:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28mm-External-Optical-Viewfinder-For-Ricoh-GV-1-GR-GRD2-3-GRD4-GRD-II-III-IV/313119443745

Just search for '28mm viewfinder' and sort by price.

3/4 decent reviews, though a glasses wearer wasn't impressed.

I have seen something similar before. If I am not mistaken, they use the optics from disposable camera finders. 

[Anbaric]

1 hour ago, nitroplait said:

I have seen something similar before. If I am not mistaken, they use the optics from disposable camera finders. 

There used to be a guy from Israel (a quick search suggests it was Boris Gorins) who sold home-made finders recycled from cheap cameras of some kind. The Keks site also lists Lomography-style disposable camera lenses mounted in Leica body caps (!), so maybe those disposables are the source of all these accessories.